Modular interior storage safe



March 5, 1968 w. BELEW MODULAR INTERIOR STORAGE SAFE Filed 'Aug. 26, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet l L. W. BELEW MODULAR INTERIOR STORAGE SAFE March 5, 1968 5 SheetS-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. ze, 1966 March 5, 1968 L. w. BELEw MODULAR INTERIOR STORAGEv SAFE Filed Aug. '26, 196e 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent Otliee 3,371,627 MODULAR INTERIOR STORAGE SAFE Leland W. Belew, Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to The Mosler Safe Company,.Hamilton, Ohio, a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 26, 1966, Ser. No. 575,412 6 Claims. (Cl. 109-53) This invention relates to record safes and more particularly to an improved modular interior to be mounted within said safes.

IIt has been an objective of this invention to provide an improved record safe interior assembly which maximizes the storage space available Within the interior of a safe and minimizes wasted space for shelves and divider partitions.

IMany business records are now stored on computorized tapes which are absolutely essential to continued business operations. Because of their value, these tapes are carefully stored within canisters in fire proof safes. For ease of access and free circulation of air, the canisters are often stored in racks which hold the canisters in edgewise standing relation. Heretofore, these racks have been relatively large structures which occupied a relatively large percentage of storage space within the safes. This invention provides the rack and shelf space of prior safe interior assemblies while minimizing the loss of utilizable space heretofore experienced with this type of safe.

This in-vention is partially predicated upon the concept of hanging the side and partition walls of a safe interior assembly from the ceiling of the safe so that the walls are suspended in spaced relation from the safe floor. This enables the side and partition walls to be made from relatively thin and inexpensive sheet material, such as sheet metal, which has a tensile strength many times that of its compressive strength. The shelves and weight supporting elements of the interior assembly are supported solely from the suspended side and partition plates so that there is no possibility of the interior collapsing under excessive compressive forces.

Specifically, the shelves and support elements comprise transverse bars which extend between and are supported solely by the side and vertical partition plates. Two transverse bars located in the same horizontal plane and spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of a canister form a shelf for the support of a row of canisters. A llat shelf placed over a pair of bars forms a conventional shelf for the support of papers, etc.

The primary advantage of this construction is that it profitably utilizes the high tensile strength of flat sheet material to maximize the utilizable space Within a safe.

Another advantage of this construction is that it facilitates interchangeable modular construction so that a safe interior may be constituted by various numbers of canister racks, lat shelves and slidable drawers or various numbers of combinations of the same.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily apparent from the following description of the drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a front elevational cross-sectional view of a record safe incorporating the invention of this application,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the modular interior assembly taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of the modular interior assembly,

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the modular interior assembly illustrating the manner of suspension of the assembly in the safe,

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional View, partially broken away, taken along line 5 5 of FIGURE 2, and

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view, partially broken away, taken along line 6 6 of FIGURE 2.

Referring first to FIGURE l, it will be seen that the invention of this application is illustrated as embodied in a conventional double doored record safe 10 having double wall thickness throughout the doors and all walls. This safe 10 comprises the usual insulated outside wall 11 and inside wall 12, separated by an air pocket 13.

As best seen in FIGURE 3, the safe interior assembly 16 comprises a pair of sheet metal side plates or panels 17 and 18, and a plurality of vertical sheet metal partition panels 19 which extend parallel to the side plates 17 and 1-8. At the top, each of the side panels 17 and 18 and the partition panels 19 are bent over into a common horizontal plane so as to dene a horizontal suspension member 20. Preferably, these suspension members are integral with the side and partition plates but they could as well be formed separately and welded or otherwise attached to the vertical plates.

As may be seen most clearly in FIGURES 2 and 4, the support elements 20 are secured to the top or ceiling 14 of the inner safe by a pair of transverse brackets 21, 22. Each of these brackets is generally Z-shaped in cross-section and extends the full width of the safe. One horizontal leg 23 of each bracket is secured to the ceiling 14 of the safe by screws 24 while t-he other horizontal leg 25 extends beneath and supports longitudinal extensions 26 of the support elements 20. Thus the support elements 20 are suspended from the brackets 21 and 22 which are in turn rigidly and securely fastened to the ceiling 14 of the inner Wall 12.

As may be seen most clearly in FIGURES 1 and 2, the center partition panel 19o and the side panels 17 and 118 extend for almost the full height of the inner wall 12 but terminate a short distance above the bottom of the safe. The remainder of the partition panels 19 extends for approximately half the height of the safe. Thus the side panels 17, 18 and all of the partition panels 19 are supported solely from the suspension hanger brackets 21 and 22. Because these panels are all supported in suspension, they are always in tension even when relatively heavy weights are suspended therefrom.

A plurality of transverse support bars 29 extend between and through holes 30 in the side plates 17 and 18 and coaxial holes 3-1 of the vertical partition panels 19. The bars are arranged in pairs so that a front bar or rod 29a is mounted adjacent the front of the interior assembly 16 in the same horizontal plane as a second rod 29b mounted adjacent the rear of the assembly. A plurality of spacer sleeves 32 are located between and separate the vertical partition panels 19 and the side plates 17, 18. The rods are held in place by a pair of nuts 34 threaded onto the ends of each of the rods 29.

Each pair of rods 29a and 29b is spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of a canister 35 adapted to be supported from the shelf dened by each pair of supported rods 29a and 29b. The canisters may contain rolls of computorized tape or other types of tape upon which information is conventionally stored.

Rather than forming a canister shelf, the rods may also be used to support flat shelves 40. Each of these shelves preferably has a depending front ange 40a and rear flange 40b and a pair of depending side flanges 40e and 40d. The side flanges 40C and 40d are provided with holes 41 coaxialy aligned with the holes in the side plates 17 and 18. The shelves 40 are secured in place -by extending the rods 29a and 29b through the holes 41 of the 'shelf flanges 40C, 40d.

To secure the complete assembly 16 against forward or rearward movement, a pair of brackets 42 and 43 is attached to each interior side wall of the safe near the bottom of the assembly so as to serve as an abutment Patented Mar. 5, 1968 3 in front of and behind each of the side plates 17 and 18.

The embodiment of this invention illustrated herein comprises ve iiat shelves for the support of flat objects and three canister shelves for the support of cylindrical containers. This is, however, only one modification of the numerous permutations possible with this modular construction. Specifically, the partition panels 19 could be shortened or lengthened to incorporate fewer or greater numbers of canister shelves. Alternately, the interior assembly could comprise canister shelves on one side of the partition panel 19C and flat shelves or drawers on the other side. Furthermore, the transverse rods 29 could be used to support sliding drawers.

In each instance, irrespective of the ararngement. of the shelves or drawers within assembly, the complete assembly and all of the shelves are 'supported in suspension from the side plates 17, 18 and vertical partitions 19. Thus, this assembly takes advantage of the high tensile strength of sheet metal and avoids ever placing the relatively thin sheet metal side plates in compression. The complete assembly is thus capable of supporting numerous canisters and other heavy objects without trequiring additional reinforcement of the side plates as would be required if the structure were supported from the bottom of the safe. Therefore, the assembly minimizes the space required for shelf structure and maximizes the utilizable space within the interior of the safe.

While only a single preferred modification of the invention of this application has been illustrated and described herein, those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will readily appreciate numerous changes and modifications which may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. Therefore, I do not intend to be limited except by the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. For use in combination with a record safe of the type having freproof walls and interior, a modular safe interior assembly adapted to be mounted inside said safe and suspended from adjacent the ceiling thereof, said interior assembly comprising a pair of vertically extending side panels,

at least one vertical partition panel extending to and between said side panels, suspension members connected to the top of each of said partition and side panels and adapted to be secured in place adjacent the interior ceiling of said safe such that said side and partition panels hang downwardly from said suspension members, the

parallel spaced from the interior iioor of said safe such that said panels are supported solely by said suspension members, and

transverse support bars extending between and supported solely by said side and partition panels, each support bar being adapted to support objects stored within the interior of said safe.

2. The modular safe interior of claim 1 wherein said side and partition panels are made from high tensile suspended from adjacent the ceiling thereof, said interior assembly comprising a pair of vertically extending side plates,

at least one vertical partition plate extending parallel to and between said side plates,

suspension members connected to the top of each of said partition and side plates and secured in place adjacent the interior ceiling of said safe such that said side and partition plates hang downwardly from said suspension members, the bottom edge of said side and partition plates being spaced from the interior floor of said safe such that said side and partition plates are supported solely by said suspension members, and

transverse support bars extending between and supported solely by said side and partition plates, said support plates being adapted to support objects stored within the interior of said safe.

5. The record safe of claim 4 wherein said side and partition plates are made from high tensile strength and relatively low compressive strength sheet metal.

6. The record safe of claim 4 wherein said transverse support bars are arranged in pairs with each pair being located in a common horizontal plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 809,497 1/ 1906 Dick 109-5 3 2,190,229 2/1940 Bradley 109-5 3 3,269,788 8/1966 Kneer 312-265 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner. 

1. FOR USE IN COMBINATION WITH A RECORD SAFE OF THE TYPE HAVING FIREPROOF WALLS AND INTERIOR, A MODULAR SAFE INTERIOR ASSEMBLY ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED INSIDE SAID SAFE AND SUSPENDED FROM ADJACENT THE CEILING THEREOF, SAID INTERIOR ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A PAIR OF VERTICALLY EXTENDING SIDE PANELS, AT LEAST ONE VERTICAL PARTITION PANEL EXTENDING PARALLE TO AND BETWEEN SAID SIDE PANELS, SUSPENSION MEMBERS CONNECTED TO THE TOP OF EACH OF SAID PARTITION AND SIDE PANELS AND ADAPTED TO BE SECURED TO PLACE ADJACENT THE INTERIOR CEILING OF SAID SAFE SUCH THAT SAID SIDE AND PARTITIONS PANELS HANG DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID SUSPENSION MEMBERS, THE BOTTOM EDGES OF SAID SIDE AND PARTITION PANELS BEING SPACED FROM THE INTERIOR FLOOR OF SAID SAFE SUCH THAT SAID PANELS ARE SUPPORTED SOLELY BY SAID SUSPENSION MEMBERS, AND 